Portrait of Margareta van Eyck

Jan van Eyck’s wife at thirty-three

Margaret van Eyck was the wife of Jan van Eyck. He painted her in 1439, two years before his death. The original frame carries an inscription in Latin saying that her husband Johannes completed the portrait on 17 June 1439, when she was thirty-three. It ends with his motto, “Als Ich Can.”

The portrait belongs to the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, the city where the couple lived.

A direct, steady gaze

Margaret turns towards us and looks straight at the viewer, something unusual for a woman’s portrait at the time. Her face is calm and unidealised, with pale skin, a slightly reddened nose and thin lips. A fine network of cracks covers the old paint.

A horned headdress with frilled linen

She wears a fashionable horned headdress, with her hair gathered in netting at both sides and covered by a white linen veil with many crimped frills. Van Eyck painted each pleat of the linen with patience.

Red wool, grey fur and a green belt

Her gown is bright red, trimmed with grey fur, gathered by a green belt high under the bust. The colours are rich but sober, suited to a well-off burgher’s wife.

At the bottom, her hands rest one over the other, a gold ring on her finger.

Half of a pair?

The portrait may have had a companion portrait of Jan himself, now lost, since such pairs of husband and wife were common. It is one of the earliest surviving portraits of an artist’s wife.

Who was Margaret van Eyck?

Almost nothing is known about Margaret beyond this portrait. She married Jan van Eyck around 1432 or 1433, and they had at least two children. After Jan’s death in 1441, Duke Philip the Good gave her a payment in recognition of her husband’s service. She may have continued running his workshop for a time.

The portrait is one of the earliest known portraits of an artist’s wife. It may have been painted as a companion to a self-portrait of Van Eyck that is now lost.

The words on the frame

The original frame carries the inscription in Latin, giving the date and her age. At the end, as on other works, Van Eyck added his motto, Als Ich Can, “as I can.” The frame was painted to look like carved stone or wood, and the inscription looks as if it were cut into it.

A direct look

Margaret turns towards the viewer and looks directly out. Her expression is calm, intelligent and slightly reserved. The direct gaze was unusual for portraits of women at the time. It suggests intimacy and familiarity between the painter and his sitter.

Fashionable dress

She wears a horned headdress covered with a white linen veil with crimped edges, and a red gown lined with grey fur. The fur trim is painted strand by strand. Her clothes show a prosperous, respectable woman, in keeping with the status of a court painter’s wife.

Where to see it

The portrait hangs in the Groeningemuseum in Bruges. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more portraits of women, explore our famous paintings of women.

Questions about Portrait of Margaret van Eyck

Who was Margaret van Eyck?

Jan van Eyck’s wife. The inscription says she was thirty-three in 1439.

Where is the original?

Groeningemuseum, Bruges.

What does the frame say?

That her husband Johannes completed it on 17 June 1439, followed by his motto, Als Ich Can.

How large is it?

About 32.6 × 25.8 centimetres, oil on oak panel.

Was there a matching portrait of Jan?

Possibly. Some think a self-portrait of Van Eyck formed a pair with it, but it is now lost.

How old was she?

Thirty-three, according to the inscription.

Sources and image credit

• Musea Brugge: Groeningemuseum
• Wikimedia Commons: Portrait of Margaret van Eyck

Public-domain reproduction of Portrait of Margaret van Eyck (1439), via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.